Australia clamps down on foreign property investors

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has moved to curb booming Australian property prices, by reintroducing strict restrictions on overseas nationals investing in Australia's housing market.

The Australian economic and property market recovery has been swifter than the other leading nations around the world and this has attracted numerous overseas property investors, particularly from Asia. This has led to a double-figure surge in property values in the past year, pricing many Australians out of the housing market.

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Saturday moved to regulate foreign cash flowing into the Australian housing market, by deciding to tighten its regulations on foreign property inverstors, restricting them to buying only new homes.

Some housing experts in New Zealand, where property price growth has also been strong in the past year, are calling for similar measure to be introduced, to prevent a speculative bubble in the New Zealand housing market.